Regulatory Analysis

Posted April 5, 2017 by Sovos
Singapore Amends CRS Regulations

New regulations came into effect this week for CRS in Singapore. The Minister for Finance has published Amendments the last year’s Regulations. Many of the Amendments concern due diligence procedures, including the self-certification process. Singapore is a late adopter. Financial Institutions are required to complete the due diligence procedures this year, and then report in […]

Read more
Posted April 5, 2017 by Sovos
Singapore Releases Nil Return Form

Singapore’s Inland Revenue Authority has released a paper form that Reporting Financial Institutions may use to file a nil report. Nil reports are required whenever an FI does not have any U.S. Reportable Accounts. A Singaporean FI may elect to file an electronic nil through the IDES Gateway, as it would a typical FATCA return. […]

Read more
Posted April 4, 2017 by Sovos
Electronic Invoice Mandate arrives to Paraguay

The Paraguay Tax Administration (SET) recently informed the business community that it is initiating a project to introduce the mandatory use of electronic invoices. The project will be executed in three phases: 1) Definition of the e-Invoice model; 2) Development of the necessary regulations and the technical platform and 3) Implementation of a pilot plan […]

Read more
Posted April 4, 2017 by Sovos
Massachusetts Adopts Economic Nexus via Directive 17-1

On April 3 the Massachusetts DOR issued Directive 17-1 establishing an economic nexus standard for out-of-state vendors. Under this new rule, starting on July 1, the existing “physical presence” standard as defined by the famous Quill v. North Dakota Supreme Court decision would be replaced with a requirement that specifies all vendors that make at […]

Read more
Posted April 4, 2017 by Sovos
North Dakota Publishes Updated Guideline to “Income Tax Withholding: Oil and Gas Royalty Payments”

North Dakota recently released an updated version of Publication 28262 – “Guideline to Income Tax Withholding: Oil and gas Royalty Payments.” The Guideline provides withholding criteria regarding oil and gas related royalty payments. There is one change from the previous version of this publication involving remittance of 1099-MISC forms under the Combined Federal/State Program […]

Read more
Posted April 4, 2017 by Sovos
Maine Publishes Updated Instructions for “Employers Return of Maine Income Tax Withholding”

Maine recently published updated instructions for Form 941-ME, the “Employer’s Return of Maine Income Tax Withholding.” Generally, Form 941-ME is used to report employee or payee income tax withholding to the Maine Revenue Service. The 2017 version of these instructions include a few changes, mostly related to amended returns. • Amended Returns: This section was […]

Read more
Posted April 4, 2017 by Sovos
Arizona Releases Updated A1-QRT: Quarterly Withholding Tax Return

Arizona has released its 2017 Quarterly Withholding Tax Return, the A1-QRT. This form is the quarterly reconciliation and reporting form used for withholding payments made over the course of a quarter. The form has undergone extensive formatting changes, but relatively few material changes. The form now requests more detail related to business closures and […]

Read more
Posted April 3, 2017 by Sovos
Utah Increases the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Change to 2.45%

Utah has recently enacted legislation which will increase the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Charge from 1.90% to 2.45% effective July 1, 2017. The legislation also further increases the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Charge to 3.30% on January 1, 2018. Sellers are required to collect the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Charge on all sales of prepaid […]

Read more
Posted April 3, 2017 by Sovos
British Virgin Islands Extends CRS Deadlines and Reminds Financial Institutions of Reporting Obligations

The BVI International Tax Authority has relaxed the statutory deadlines for both UK CDOT and CRS – extending them to June 30, 2017 for enrollment and to July 31, 2017 for submissions. The ITA will inform BVI FIs directly once the portal is open to accept UK and CRS enrollments and filings. In addition, UK […]

Read more
Posted April 3, 2017 by Sovos
Luxembourg Releases Reportable Jurisdictions

Luxembourg has published their list of Reportable Jurisdictions in the Journal Officiel. The list is a requirement from the Common Reporting Standard, and should be use by Reporting Financial Institutions if they have Reportable Accounts. It’s Luxembourg’s first publication of such a list. Otherwise, an FI may submit a Nil but it is not required […]

Read more
Posted April 3, 2017 by Sovos
OECD Releases Second Edition of CRS Guidance

The OECD has recently put out a new edition of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information. This text is sometimes referred to as the “purple book.” The OECD explains that the update was made to give more clarity to the process of submitting corrected returns. In that vein, the OECD updated the […]

Read more
Posted April 3, 2017 by Sovos
Australia Updates FATCA and CRS Pages, Adds FATCA Reporting Explanation

The Australian Taxation Office has made some revisions to the ATO FATCA and CRS websites. Additionally, the ATO has created a new FATCA Reporting page that provides essential information regarding the transmittal of FATCA returns. The reporting page confirms that Australia will continue to use the IRS XML Schema, and permit but not require […]

Read more
Posted March 31, 2017 by Sovos
Arizona Electronic Filing Requirement Signed into Law

The Arizona Governor signed into law House Bill 2280 which ultimately requires electronic filing and payment of most business taxes. The Arizona Department of Revenue favors e-filing as simpler, more secure and faster than traditional paper returns. While many taxpayers already file Arizona’s Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) return electronically, the requirement to e-file for TPT […]

Read more
Posted March 30, 2017 by Sovos
Utah Exempting Car Wash Services Beginning July 1, 2017

The Utah Governor recently signed Senate Bill 16 into law. The law creates a new sales tax exemption for the service of cleaning or washing the exterior of a vehicle, beginning on July 1, 2017. However, an important exception exists. If the service includes any charges related to cleaning the interior of the vehicle, then […]

Read more
Posted March 30, 2017 by Sovos
Immediate and Substantial Sales Tax Changes in Saskatchewan

On March 22, 2017, Saskatchewan, Canada announced its annual budget. The changes made to their sales tax were massive and virtually immediate. The most notable was a standard rate increase (effective at midnight that night) from 5.0% to 6.0%. Further, effective April 1 Saskatchewan’s exemptions for children’s clothing, real property services and certain food items […]

Read more
Posted March 30, 2017 by Sovos
GST Bills Pass in India’s Lower House

The four bills that would implement the long-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India have taken their first step towards enactment, passing India’s lower house of parliament (the Lok Sabha) on March 29, 2017. The State of Jammu and Kashmir is notably excluded from the scope of one of the bills, the Integrated Goods […]

Read more
Posted March 29, 2017 by Sovos
Tax Reform Proposals in Brazil – The Presidential Plan

The Brazilian government is considering several proposals to reform their indirect tax system, widely considered to be one of the most complex in the world. One of those proposals, offered by the Brazilian President, suggests a significant tax overhaul to take place over multiple stages. Stage 1, slated for June, would involve a simplification of […]

Read more
Posted March 29, 2017 by Sovos
Tax Reform Proposals in Brazil – The VAT Alternative

The Brazilian government is considering several proposals to reform their indirect tax system, widely considered to be one of the most complex in the world. One such proposal is being crafted by the Special Commission on Tax Reform within the Chamber of Representatives. The Commission is proposing the introduction of a value added tax to […]

Read more